Teaching swimming
suz...@home.com
getting water in his face and that's slowing things down a lot. We're also
not sure how to teach him to hold his breath under water. I would be a lot
happier if he at least learned to stay afloat since our neighbor has a pond
(fenced but you know how that is). Any advice would be welcome -- thanks.
Susan Thomas
mom to Sam (5.75, DS) and Josh (almost 13)
Alicia
Hi Susan,
David and I have been going to a Mom and Me swimming class. Some of the
babies are less than 1 year. Our instructor has us blow in the childs'
face. This seems to make them crunch up their face. As soon as you blow,
you then dunk the child under the water...some of the children like it and
some don't...they never come back up choking on water so I assume this
blowing affects them some way that they then hold their breath. We also
hold the children as we say "kick your feet" or "swim with your arms".
David won't do these things....he is completely relaxed and limp in the
water and I have to hold his bottom down or it will just float to the
surface. We also do a lot of bubble blowing at the surface of the
water...Sam might like that and it might be a way to encourage him to at
least get his mough and chin in the water to blow bubbles.
Good luck....I too worry about my children and nearby bodies of water.
Alicia, Mom of Clara (almost 7 and very much enjoying the adventures of
huckleberry finn) and David (2 years, karoake king, sweeter every day, DS)
Tracey Finch
Having Sam blow bubbles in the water might be a good place to start.
Perhaps you might fill the tub a little fuller and show him (on a bad
hair day?). With Will we used his older sister and threw both in the
tub at once. She taught him to put his face in the water and blow
bubbles. I was also a very ruthless mother when it came time to
shampoo hair .... I just dumped the water over his head and put up
with the fuss ... one day he just dunked his head in the tub to get
rid of most of the soap. From then on, I only had to do the final
rinse.
To get the kids comfortable on their backs, it was suggested that we
have them practice first in an empty tub for a couple of baths. Then
in a tad bit of water, an inch of water and to slowly have them lay
on their back as the water gets deeper and deeper. All the while you
are their to support them if they want it.
Good luck,
Trace
Donna Duffey
writes:
> We're trying to teach Sam at least a little basic swimming. He really hates
> getting water in his face and that's slowing things down a lot. We're also
> not sure how to teach him to hold his breath under water. I would be a lot
> happier if he at least learned to stay afloat since our neighbor has a pond
> (fenced but you know how that is). Any advice would be welcome -- thanks.
>
Hi,
Madison (7, DS and autism) gets swimming lessons every Friday at school.
She was getting one on one with the swim instructor since she too, was
terrified to be in the pool. Just recently she is able to go in with the
other kids. The first thing they are teaching her is how to get to the side
of the pool (in case she ever fell in). It does seem to be innate to her to
do that. That's as far as we've gotten, but I remember with all my other
kids that got swim lessons, the first thing to teach them is to blow bubbles
in the water. That's the first step in teaching them to hold their breath
under water. Since he's afraid to get his face wet, I would start with
those boards and have him kick his feet, sticking his little mouth in ever so
gently and blow bubbles. It takes time, but eventually he'll be more
comfortable and you can go further.
Good Luck,
Donna
Donna Duffey
writes:
> . She taught him to put his face in the water and blow
> bubbles. I was also a very ruthless mother when it came time to
> shampoo hair .... I just dumped the water over his head and put up
> with the fuss ... one day he just dunked his head in the tub to get
> rid of most of the soap. From then on, I only had to do the final
> rinse
LOLOL Trace!!! Well then I guess I've been a ruthless mother to my five as
well!!! Although I did always make it fun!!!! I always had them *look up
at the sky and tell what color birdies you see*. It would expand to *oh
yellow--that's a canary....Oh pink---that's a flamingo*...and so on. They
were so busy with the game, they never noticed the soapy water pouring down
their faces....LOLOL
Maddie, who doesn't comprehend verbal language, thankfully has never minded
Mom dumping cupfulls of water over her head!
Donna
Cindy
baby in the pool. Last summer he started jumping off the side and learned
to enjoy the pool. This summer, he was doing flips under water, diving for
objects and swimming to me. He stays under for about a minute..mouth and
eyes wide open (and he smiles!), but somehow he doesn't get the water in his
lungs. It's the other kids he's watched who have taught him. He had
countless volunteer swim instructors this year...LOL!
Now if I could only learn how I can get him to wash his hair or take a
shower......
Cindy
Catherine Slater
DS)boy to wash his hair or take a shower though both Karen ( DS) and
Elizabeth (DS) learnt that by the time they were eight
Catherine
http://disabilities-us.com/slaterfamily/index.htm
Wildwards
>objects and swimming to me
Yahoo for Matthew! It's great to see kids having so much fun and discovering
all their new water skills!
Cheryl in VA
Susan Thomas
>I know that
>Cristen would still not swim if I had anything to do with it. I'm not a
>very good swimmer.
>
>Melissa
>(who finally went in the ocean after watching Cristen)
Same here. It's been like pulling teeth to get me in the water to teach
him.
Well, we've spent several days working on trying to get him to hold his
breath. Sam thinks it's really funny watching us blowing bubbles in the
pool, but no way is HIS little face going near the water. Tried it in the
tub, in a bowl of water, in our cupped palms -- no way, no how. But he's
gotten a lot more relaxed in the water, not clutching onto us so hard, and
we're getting him to kick a little. This is just going to be a long
process, I think. I've done some asking around about a private teacher, and
apparently there is one locally who has taught a lot of children with
special needs how to swim. I might go that route shortly, if I can track
her down.
Thanks for the replies. Still open to suggestions, if anyone has them!
Susan
Wildwards
What kind of swimming aids are you using in the pool? My kids have both
learned to swim at very young ages, both in water before they were one. Beach
babies too, so they were not afraid of the ocean. Both of them loved having
the swim bands on their arms, with watchful adults they were quite comfortable
with those. We worked on putting your face in the water and holding your
breath after they were secure that it was their choice and they could stay on
top of the water without a problem. Toys are great enticers for young ones.
Even though my kids LOVED playing the games available for pools, their favorite
was diving for pennies. Kickboards are great too, kids love to hold onto those
and kick up a storm, it's a great way for them to get the alternating kicking
motion down pat.
Cheryl in VA
PMWilson
that educated kids with disabilities aged 3 to 21 had a shallow, heated pool.
He didn't enjoy those lessons. His teacher believed there was only one way for
kids to learn to swim, and he did everything all wrong. So he resisted.
Then he took public lessons with his sister and her best friend, and I told him
that I did not put my face under water while I swim. I asked him not to put his
face under water in that pool, since he wanted to wear his glasses.
His sister and her friend both used swim goggles, so he decided to wear swim
goggles. The young adult swim instructor said that he could participate however
he wanted when it was his turn. He wanted to do everything, and he learned to
swim.
And it was only natural that he decided it would be very cool to do handstands
on the bottom of the pool with just his feet sticking out of the water.
One day at the pool during 'free time' when his sister and her friend were
talking with some other buddies after their lesson, another young boy started
playing with my son.
As the other mom was walking off with that boy, he was telling her that he
wanted my son at his birthday party the next day, and that he didn't need any
of 'those other kids' to come because he wanted to keep playing with my son. My
son said it was too bad we were busy the next day. hahahaha!
He went swimming with his dad twice last week and decided to do a long
underwater swim like the Atlantian princess and the hero in the movie we saw
the week before.
I guess he just wasn't ready to swim before he found the instructor he wanted
to impress.
Our swimming pool is now a skate park, but most people in town remember
freezing in the water and learning to swim. Our son has always enjoyed playing
in the water (those swim rings were hard to find in the bigger sizes!) and
swimming with his cousins and his sister - and he has always been closely
supervised by his dad or me.
So one or the other of us has always had the shock of seeing him doing without
thinking twice about it all those things he would not do for his sped teacher!
hahaha. sigh.
Is there still some controversy about children learning to swim at young ages?
I seem to recall quite a kerfluffle a few years ago.
Remember the sunscreen...